Claudio Kelin
Photon-Counting Computed Tomography (PCCT) represents a significant advancement in the field of medical imaging, offering enhanced capabilities for the characterization of atherosclerotic plaques. Atherosclerosis, a leading cause of cardiovascular diseases, involves the build-up of plaques within the arterial walls, which can lead to serious health issues like heart attacks and strokes. Accurate characterization of these plaques is crucial for diagnosis, risk assessment, and treatment planning. PCCT, with its superior resolution and material differentiation capabilities, holds great promise in improving the detection and analysis of these plaques. PCCT differs from conventional CT in its detection mechanism. Traditional CT systems use energy-integrating detectors that measure the total energy deposited by incoming X-ray photons, providing an average value across a broad spectrum. In contrast, PCCT utilizes Photon-Counting Detectors (PCDs), which count individual photons and measure their energy levels. This allows PCCT to capture more detailed information about the X-ray spectrum and improves image quality and material differentiation.